Bristol County

This page includes local event listings and directories of veterans’ services; veteran outreach centers; posts and auxiliaries; specialty courts; elder services; and veteran owned businesses, along with census, VA spending, veteran homelessness, and public health data for Bristol County.

Submit an event

All events in Bristol County are tagged #southeast. Events in Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Fall River, Freetown, New Bedford, Somerset, Swansea, Westport are also tagged #south-coast. When you submit events, include the relevant tags and the name of the town in the event listing so they show up in the relevant calendars.

Executive Office of Veterans’ Services

The mission of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Veterans’ Services (EOVS) is to act as the primary advocate on behalf of all the Commonwealth’s veterans. The Office provides outreach and support through various programs.

EOVS offers assistance to eligible veterans and their surviving spouses through the MassVets Financial Benefits Program, administered by local veterans’ services. Veterans may use the Mass Vet Benefit Calculator to see what they may qualify for and contact their local veterans’ services office below to apply.

Veterans’ Services Districts in Bristol County

MGL Chapter 115 requires each town/city have a veterans’ agent to administer these benefits, but two or more contiguous towns can also appoint someone to serve as veterans’ agent and form Veterans’ Services Districts. District veterans’ services offices serving cities and towns in Bristol County that share a veterans’ agent or formed a district are below.

Veterans Association of Bristol County

The Veterans Association of Bristol County in Fall River serves all who have served or are still serving in the US Armed Forces. VABC collaborates with community partners to provide meaningful programs and compassionate support to veterans and their families to foster healing and growth and promote their thriving in the community during and after active duty.

Veterans in Bristol County who are in need of assistance, can contact the VABC at (508) 679-9277 or register here for assistance.

Veterans’ Posts & Auxiliaries in Bristol County

The Veterans Posts and Auxiliaries directory includes information about the VFW and American Legion Posts, Marine Corps League Detachments, and DAV Chapters based in cities and towns in the Northeast Region.

Bristol County Recovery Court

Bristol County has a Recovery Court. The Massachusetts Center of Excellence for Specialty Courts, an initiative of the Executive Office of the Massachusetts Trial Court, aims to bring innovative, evidence-based, and equitable interventions to Specialty Courts.

The Attleboro, Fall River, and Taunton District Courts offer Recovery Court sessions in Bristol County. Recovery Courts, also referred to as Drug Treatment Courts and Drug Courts, address the behavioral health and social support needs of adults involved with the criminal-legal system. Recovery Courts are designed to assist court-involved people in their path toward recovery from substance use and away from unlawful behavior.

Elder Services in Bristol County

Aging Services Access Points (ASAPs) are private, non-profit agencies established under MGL Chapter 19A. ASAPs provide direct and protective services, including information and referrals; interdisciplinary case management; intake and assessment; developing, implementing, and monitoring service plans; reassessing needs; and investigating reports of elder abuse and neglect.

Veteran Owned Businesses in Bristol County

This Veteran Owned Businesses directory is based on publicly available information and listings of veteran owned businesses in Northeast Mass. Click here to submit a business or update information.

Veterans in Bristol County

If you serve veterans and are trying to learn more about their demographics, explore the most recent ACS 5-year estimates from Census Reporter for cities and towns in Bristol County below.

You can explore American Community Survey 5-year estimates for Bristol County linked below, as well as other military and veteran census data with interactive maps and tables on the Census Reporter.
- Data for Bristol County veterans referencing age, gender, and veteran status, median income, educational attainment, employment status, service-connected disability status, service era .
There are additional tables that include information about the Armed Forces, including as part of the labor force (this data is also broken down with racial iterations) and employment status by industry. The following tables break out Armed Forces as a separate column:
- Marital Status by sex and labor force participation; Presence of Own Children by age of children and by family type and employment status; Educational Attainment by employment status; Poverty Status by disability and employment status
You can explore the most recent 1-year American Community Survey census data for Bristol County linked below, as well as other military and veteran census data with interactive maps and tables on the Census Reporter.
- Data for Bristol County veterans referencing age, sex, and veteran status, median income, educational attainment, employment status, service-connected disability, service era, and age, disability, and poverty status.
Some tables also have racial iterations and there are additional tables that include information about the Armed Forces. Members of the Armed Forces are generally included as part of the Labor Force and under employment status by industry. These tables also break out Armed Forces as a separate column:
- Marital Status by sex and labor force participation; Presence of Own Children by age of children and by family type and employment status; Educational Attainment by employment status; and Poverty Status by disability and employment status
In October 2023, the US Census Bureau released the most recent 2022 data from the Annual Business Survey, which includes information at the state level on veteran-owned businesses within:
- Company Summaries and Characteristics of Businesses tables by industry, sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status and Characteristics of Business Owners tables by Service-Disabled and Other Veteran Characteristics.
- Module Business Characteristics tables by industry, sex, ethnicity, race, and veteran status, including Effect of Coronavirus on Business Sales, Level of Operations During Coronavirus Pandemic, Level of Operations During Coronavirus Pandemic, and Outstanding Debt.

Information about veterans’ disability and poverty status is only available at the county level with 1-year estimates for 2022. Based on the ACS 1-year estimates for 2022, there were 22,772 veterans living in Bristol County, including 1,439 women veterans.

In 2022, around 6.5% of veterans (1,483) in Bristol County experienced poverty in the prior year. Although only 12% of disabled veterans in Bristol County fell below the poverty line, disabled veterans made up around 47% of the veterans in poverty.

Over 65% of all disabled veterans in Bristol County (4,241) were over age 65. Almost 59% of all disabled veterans in poverty in Bristol County (409) were over age 65.

Over 71% of all veterans (16,219) in Bristol County served during wartime. All veterans with service in the Vietnam, Korea, and World War II eras are over age 65, which includes at least 53% (8,622) of veterans with wartime status in Bristol County.

Almost 29% (6,508) of Bristol County veterans reported having a disability. Disabled veterans are potentially eligible for VA compensation. Based on the 2022 1-year ACS data, there were 4,995 veterans in Bristol County with service-connected disabilities, with more than 99% receiving some compensation based on their rating.

Whether or not a veteran has time during a “wartime” service era determines in part whether the veteran (or their survivor) is potentially eligible for the VA pension. Veterans over age 65 may qualify for the VA pension whether or not they have a qualifying disability. Low income veterans with peacetime service only may qualify for MassVets financial benefits based on active service.

VA Spending in Bristol County

Based on the VA’s GDX Report, the VA spent over $345.3 million in Bristol County in fiscal year 2023, an increase from $321.9 million in 2022, including:

$170 million on VA compensation and pension payments, compared to $159.8 million in 2022;
$160.2 million providing medical care to 8,048 unique patients ($19,905 per patient), compared to $147.7 million for 8,108 patients ($18,212 per patient) in 2022; and
$14.4 million on education and vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits, compared to $13.5 million in 2022.

Veteran Homelessness in Bristol County

The Housing Assistance Council’s Veterans Data Center publishes a Massachusetts state profile breaking down the general demographics for veterans based on the most recent ACS 5-year estimates for 2017–2021, which are the most accurate. Data for Bristol County is broken down here.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) Program is designed to promote community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness. The Massachusetts CoC includes 12 regional CoCs, including the Bristol County CoC.

During the last week of January, CoC’s count all of the homeless people reported by service providers and counted by local police and volunteer groups on the streets. In 2023, veterans made up around 3.4% of the overall homeless population in Massachusetts, an increase from 2.2% in 2022.

From 2022 to 2023, the number of homeless veterans increased from 534 to 545, including 70 women, who made up 12.8% of homeless veterans counted. Veteran homelessness increased by less than 3% overall, with a 23% increase for women veterans.

Bristol County Veterans Needs Assessment

The Bristol County Veterans Needs Assessment was prepared in March 2014 by the UMass Dartmouth’s Urban Initiative for the Veterans Transition House. It was limited due to the lack of publicly accessible data providing information on veterans at the municipal level and the time that passes between the homeless point-in-time counts in January and the release of the data in October.

The usefulness of survey data also depended on the ability to gain the active participation of multiple stakeholders in serving Bristol County veterans, including city and town veterans’ services. The offices of the three cities could not obtain responses from veterans they were actively serving, resulting in Fall River, Taunton, and New Bedford being underrepresented in the findings.

Though limited in its ability to speak for the needs of Bristol County veterans due to a low sample size, the needs assessment suggested that in 2014:

The most met needs were basic human needs (food, clothing, shelter, medical care).
The least met needs included assistance obtaining and settling into permanent housing, gaining access to dental care, and accessing resources to support financial stability.

Bristol County Public Health Data

The U.S. Center for Disease Control’s Suicide Prevention Strategies for Communities support the implementation of a public health approach that uses data to drive decision-making. Massachusetts does not publish comprehensive data surrounding the deaths of service members and veterans. The chart below includes toxicology data for suicide deaths overall in Bristol County.

From 2015 to 2022, opioid and benzodiazepine prescriptions in Bristol County declined, but suicide rates involving them remained high, suggesting unintended consequences of deprescribing. Opioid prescription rates were higher than in other regions, and partial opioid agonist use stabilized after 2019, indicating potential treatment saturation or leveling off in access to treatment.

Stimulant prescriptions rose steadily, along with amphetamine-related suicides, and cocaine and marijuana involvement in suicides was higher compared to other areas. Alcohol, antidepressants, and benzodiazepines remained prevalent in suicide deaths, with alcohol consistently involved. A public health approach is needed to balance prescription policies, mental health care, and harm reduction.

Rising stimulant use, persistent alcohol misuse, and distinct polysubstance patterns call for closer monitoring of prescriptions and targeted interventions. Bristol County’s higher rates of cocaine and marijuana involvement compared to other regions suggest these substances may have been frequently combined with others, like alcohol or benzodiazepines.